Bottle-cap lifter



P. H. WELCKER.

BOTTLE CAP L|FTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22. 1920.

1,338,847. atented May 4, 1920.

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PwwvmM/cke vy- UNITED sTaTEs PATENT oEETcE.

PAUL H. WELCKER, or sT. PAUL, nmnEsoTe, nsslenon To snown a BIeELoW, on ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION 011 MINNEsoTA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1920.

Application filed January 22, 1920, Serial No. 353,183.

'1 b alt whom it may concern Be it known that I, PAUL H. lVELokEn, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in' the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bottle-Gap Lifters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a bottle cap lifter,

the primary object of which is to lift a portion of the cardboard cap of the ordinary, well known milk bottle without spilling the milk so that while the cap is tilted the milk can be readily poured from the bottle.

A feature of my invention is to provide means for directing the lifting pressure for raising a portion of the bottlecap against the bottle cap to hold a portion of the same rigidly against the bottle shoulder while the other half or portion of the bottle cap is tilted upward to open the bottle.

he invention provides means for pierc ing a pasteboard bottle cap readily, the shank carrying the piercing element being elevated above the fulcrum bar of the lifter for clearance and a suitable shoulder or bar being arranged to engage the under surface of the cap to lift a portion when the operating armof the lifter is depressed.

In the drawings forming part of this specification Figure 1 illustrates a milk bottle, a portion of which is broken away, with my lifter in place and tilting a portion of the bottle cap to allow milk to be poured freely from the bottle without removing the cap.

Fig. 2 is a front end view of my lifter associated with the bottle cap and illustrating a portion of a bottle partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my lifter.

My lifter A is formed from a. single piece of thin, sheet material, having a bottle cap piercing element 10, which is for the purpose of penetrating the ordinary pasteboard bottle cap B ofthe milk bottle C. The piercing element 10 is formed with a shoulder 11, which is forced into engagement with the under side of the bottle cap B by the cam surface 12, which is oppositely disposed from the shoulder 11 on the piercing element 10. The cam shoulder 12 has a tendency to cause the shoulder 11 to engage firmly against the under side of the bottle cap B after the piercing element has penetrated the cap and is moved to withdraw the piercing element from the cap.

a portion of a pasteboard bottle cap, as illustrated in Fig. l, and after the piercing element 10 has been forced through the bottle cap B the fulcrum bar 14: engages the bottle cap and the ends of the same transmit pressure to the bottle shoulder 17, which is adapted to hold the bottle cap B in place so that when the fulcrum bar comes in contact wijn the cap 15, by depressing the end 16 of the operating arm 15 the shoulder 11 of the piercing element will be brought into e11- gagei'nent with the under surface of the cap and the lifting pressure exercised against the arm 15 will be transmitted by the bar 1a to the bottle cap B and a portion of the shoulder 17 so as to form an axis for the lifter to rotate on and to firmly hold a portion of the bottle cap in place, while the portion engaged by the piercing element will be lifted or tilted, as illustrated in Fig. 1. In this manner a milk bottle is con veniently opened without removing the cap B from the same and without requiring a separate cover to close the bottle after it has been opened. The same cardboard cap can be used for some time by the use of my lifter, or in fact until the milk has been entirely used from the bottle C.

The rear edge of the fulcrum bar 14: forms the longitudinal axis of the lifter and when it is desired to close the cap B from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 the bar readily serves the purpose of pressing the same in plare to practically close the bottle in the same manner as it was sealed by the cap before the lifter was used.

My bottle cap lifter is adapted to be used to lift the cap or to entirely remove the same from the bottle. lVhen the lifter is used to remove the bottle cap the piercing element is inserted in the cap and by lifting on the operating arm 15, the shoulder 11 will engage and pull the cap from the bottle neck while the cam shoulder 12 will tend to cause the shoulder 11 to engage against the cap as a barb to lift the same.

The arm 14 of the lifter A is formed of approximately the same length as the di ameter of the opening of the bottle C above the annular shoulder 17 so that if the cap B were removed the ends of the arm 14 would rest on a portion of the shoulder 17. Thus when the bar 14: is pressed against the cap B it has a tendency to hold the cap flat against the shoulder 17 and prevent bulging or bending of the cap inwardly, which would have atendency to squeeze or force the'milk out of the bottle.

The simple, inexpensive construction of my device, together with its practical features, gives a bottle cap litter of a practical nature, for which there has been a long felt want by the general householder.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the following claims: 1. A bottle cap lifter, including a piercing element, a cap engaging fulcrum bar and an operating arm adapted when depressed to cause the piercing element to tilt a portion of a bottle cap to open the bottle without removing the cap.

2. A bottle cap lifter for a milk bottle, a piercing element, a shoulder formed on said element, a fulcrum bar adapted to form the axis for rotation of said lifter by pressing against the bottle cap to firmly hold a portion of the cap in place while a portion of the cap is tilted to open the milk bottle when the lifter is rotated.

33. A bottle cap lifter, comprising a piercing element, a barb formed on said piercing element adapted to engage a bottle cap through which said element has pierced to lift the bottle cap, a bar adapted to engage against the bottle cap directly above the annular shoulder in a bottle, which holdsthe cap in place to prevent the piercing element from bending the bottle cap inward, a shank connecting the piercing element with said bar and a lifting or tilting arm extending angularly from said bar.

4:. A bottle cap lifter formed from a single piece of material a cap engaging bar having a length equal to the diameter of a bottle cap, a shank extending upward and parallel from one side of said bar, a piercing element extending downward from the outer end of said shank, a lifting shoulder formed on said piercing element, a cam shoulder oppositely disposed to said lifting shoulder on said piercing element adapted to force said lifting shoulder into engagement with a pasteboard bottle cap after said piercing element has pierced the same and an operating arm extending from said bar opposite to said shank.

-5. A bottle cap lifter formed from a single piece of thin, sheet material, a fulcrum bar, a shank extending centrally from one side of said bar having a downwardly extending piercing and lifting element formed on the outer end thereof and an operating arm extending centrally from said bar opposite to said shank having an outer curved linger engaging end formed thereon.

6. A bottle cap lifter formed of thin, sheet material, a bar adapted to engage and hold the cap firmly in place on the bottle shoulder, a piercing element supported from one side of said bar and an operating lever extending from the opposite side of said bar, whereby when said bar engages the cap to hold it firmly in place on a bottle shoulder the same can be pierced and a portion thereof partially lifted to open a bottle without moving the remainder of the bottle 7 cap.

PAUL H. W ELGKER. 

